Last week, ReachLocal introduced a variety of new service offerings, with a focus on reinventing the way consumers book and buy local services. Currently, consumers face a multitude of challenges when making a buying decision, such as:

Who do I call?

How much will it cost?

When can I get an appointment?

Will the service pro be on time?

How easy is it to pay?

In reality, consumers are overwhelmed with information when they search online, but are provided no transparency into pricing and scheduling from most local service providers today. That’s where our new consumer-facing service ClubLocal comes in.

ClubLocal is our new local commerce service that takes the entire purchasing process online, allowing consumers to instantly book and buy 17 home services like plumbers, handymen, and heating and air conditioning repair, all via the ClubLocal website or mobile app. Plus, it’s 100% free to join.

In this video interview with Fox Business Network, ReachLocal CEO Zorik Gordon explains how ClubLocal works and what this shift toward online booking and buying means for both local merchants and consumers.

ClubLocal is currently available in Dallas and will be launched in Q2 in San Francisco.

Gordon touches on the key foundations for making a local commerce solution work for consumers. ClubLocal does this by:

Screening and criminally background checking all service providers

Pre-negotiating pricing and standardizing SKUs, making costs transparent to consumers

Providing two-hour appointment windows and sending notifications when the service pro is en route

Putting the entire booking and buying process online, from scheduling and estimates to payments and receipts

Standing behind every job with the ClubLocal Satisfaction Guarantee

Gordon notes, “I think it’s really interesting that as we look at this opportunity, there’s about a trillion plus dollars worth of local service transactions that are occurring offline. We believe they’re all going to happen online.”

ClubLocal is only part of how ReachLocal is powering this shift to local commerce; we additionally announced several software-as-a-service [SaaS] products for local businesses. These include ReachSite, a conversion-optimized website solution, ReachConvert, a lead management solution that helps turn more website leads into customers, and ReachCommerce, a platform for taking the entire booking and buying process online including booking appointments, scheduling staff, and paying via mobile device.

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